Tag Archives: Tennessee Volunteers

Busy Basketball Weekend

The college basketball teams ranked No. 3-6 and 8, 10-14, 16-18, 19-21 and 23 are all playing on Saturday. Then on Sunday the No. 1, 7, 9, 15, 19, 22, 24, and 25 teams have games. And there are match-ups on ranked teams all over the place – some on television.

Saturday

Colorado at No. 2 Texas

Georgia at No. 3 Kentucky

No. 4 Purdue at No. 20 Wisconsin

No. 5 Duke at No. 17 Georgia Tech on ESPN

Marquette at No. 6 Villanova

No. 8 West Virginia at Notre Dame

No. 10 Kansas State at Missouri

No. 11 Michigan State at Iowa

No. 13 Connecticut at No. 12 Georgetown on ESPN

UNLV at No. 14 New Mexico

Miss. St at No. 16 Mississippi

No. 18 Gonzaga at Portland

Boston College at No. 21 Clemson

No. 23 BYU at UTEP

Sunday

No. 1 Kansas at No. 15 Tenn on CBS

South Florida at No. 7 Syracuse

Virginia Tech at No. 9 UNC

No. 19 Florida State at Maryland

No. 22 Washington at Arizona

No. 24 Butler at Detroit

No. 25 Temple at Rhode Island

That is every-single-team ranked in the USA Today Top 25 playing this weekend. That is nuts. But here are my picks of the bunch.

Duke at GT – GT had one of the best recruiting classes this year, headlined by the want to see GT’s super-freshmen Derrick Favors play. Favors was the No. 2 recruit in the nation last year and while he is not getting the headlines like other freshmen (John Wall and Xavier Henry), Favors is averaging 12.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg and 2.2 blocks per game.

Kansas at Tennessee – Does anyone know what is happening or going to happen to the players arrested? I think they are suspend indefinitely, so this match-up may not be as close as it would be with Tyler Smith in the line-up. Still these are both talented teams, but Kansas is just bigger than Tennessee. Update – Smith has been dismissed from the team.

Purdue at Wisconsin – I know that Big Ten basketball can be very painful to watch, but this is the Boilmakers first real road test at the toughest place to play in the Big Ten – i.e. Duke in ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

UNLV at New Mexico – I know nothing about either of these teams, but there is buzz surrounding both teams. Should be a tough conference game.

NFL Playoffs Getting Started

The first round of the playoffs are also happening this weekend. And there are two rematch from last week with Philly and Dallas and Green Bay at Arizona. A lot people are picking upsets and home teams losing. Here are match-ups:

Saturday

NY Jets at Cincinnati

Philadelphia at Dallas

Sunday

Baltimore at New England

Green Bay at Arizona

Every match-up really could go either way, but here are my quick thoughts.

New York beats Cincinnati, I have no real thoughts about this game.

But the Philly/Dallas game is very interesting. Was what we saw last week real with Philly? I am not sure. But I think The Eagles go back to Dallas and upset the Cowboys.

New England could struggle without Wes Welker, but I am not confident in the Ravens offense. So, I am picking New England.

Green Bay rolled over Arizona – or did the Cardinals roll-over when they knew there was nothing to play for? I think Green Bay wins again.

The Vikings will play either Dallas, Arizona or Green Bay next Sunday. I fear only the Cowboys – but the Cardinals beat the crap of the Vikings and it is very hard to beat a team three times in a season. But the Purple are playing at home.

Minnesota Timberwolve GM David Kahn Podcast

I listen to a lot of podcasts – ESPN has a ton – and one that I listen to is the NBA Today with Ryan Rusillo. He however is not the reason that I listen. Rusillo just thinks to much of himself and kind of drives me nuts, but he gets a lot of good guests on the podcast.

he latest podcast features an interview with T’Wolve GM David Kahn and they discussed the team and his thoughts on the future of the team. Click here to get to the NBA Today podcast page.

The pageantry of the non-conference schedule was come to an end and conference play is blooming like a brand new flower. And that small flower has already rocked the national scene.

In a two parts, I will look at major college basketball and highlight all that is good and all that is bad. First to the teams that have been disappointing but with room to improve

When looking at the what has already taken place, everything must be taken with a “grain of salt”. Strengths can only prove so much against lesser competition, but the weaknesses can show wholes in a prevouslt thought solid team.

Conference play is the great equalizer, everyone knows it. So UNC lose to Boston College should not be too surprised- I am most surprised it happen on UNC’s home court. But what the “pre-conference season” does for the fans is give us an idea of how well your favorite team match-ups against cupcakes and the occasional meeting of powerhouses in the tournaments and challenges.

Or if you are Gonzaga you stuff your non-conference with tough games because there are only two teams that SHOULD give you problems in conference play. But they are have their own troubles losing four out of their last five game.

And now, the most disappointing teams of the 2008-09 College basketball season thus far.

Louisville Cardinals

I really don’t know what to say. No team has underperformed like the Louisville Cardinals. Was this season’s team and talent over-hyped? Or was David Padgent under-appreciated? The Cardinals are 9-3 and a 30 foot last second shot to beat Kentucky away from 8-4.

Louisville have dominated in their nine wins, only Kentucky and Mississippi lost by less than ten. In the three games they lost however, the Cardinals shot 32 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc. Nowhere near their 43 percent and 35 percent averages.

The Big East is tough and this team was expected to compete for the conference title. They still could, but not in the current form.

Solution: Steady point guard play. Maybe after his game winning shot Sunday, Edgar Sosa has earned Rick Pitino’s trust and can start dishing out assists. Two other players, both forwards, average more assists per game than Sosa; Terrance Williams with 4.7 and Earl Clark with 3 per game.

Gonzaga Bull Dogs

After years of being the tournament Cinderella, the glass slipper has been smashed to pieces this season as the Bulldogs were a Final Four pick by many of the experts. But 8-4 is not the start that shows you are now “a team to beat”.

Gonzaga are infamous for playing a difficult non-conference schedule. This season they match-up with Tennessee twice, Arizona, UConn, Washington State, and Maryland.

At moments, The ‘Zags look unstoppable. Other times, they look like a bunch a kids waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do. Mark Few needs to give direction to this offensive juggernaut and tell Austin Daye he does need to shoot EVERY TIME HE TOUCHES THE BALL. Just grab some more rebounds and block more shots. His draft status is fine.

Solution:Three point shooting. Six players have each taken over 20 three point shots totaling 227 and they have made only 77 for 34 percent. Best is center/forward Josh Heytvelt at 47 percent and worst is point guard Jeremy Pargo at 26 percent.

Tennessee Volunteers

I like Tyler Smith. His game reminds me of former Wake Forrest star Josh Howard, without the America bashing. But Smith cannot do it alone. This team needs a consistent second scorer. Wayne Chism, I am talking to you.

In a game against Marquette, Chism had one of the best performances of the season. He scored 21 points in the second half and finished with 26 points and 11 boards and was un-guardable. But against a much lesser team, Belmont, Chism only puts up six points and 12 rebounds in a Volunteer two point victory. Wayne, you are too good.

There are six players who average nine points are more. Smith leads with 17.3 and next is Chism at 12.3. Maybe Scottie Hopson can become that person, but he needs to find shots in the offense. This team can score, but it ends of games is seems that no one wants to take the shot.

Solution:Wayne Chism with a little bit more from the freshmen.

Memphis Tigers

So long Derrick Rose. Take care of yourself Chris Douglas-Roberts. Call us soon Joey Dorsey. The Tigers lost too much. The teams best playmaker, best offensive player and best banger.

Like Tennessee, Memphis cannot replace with dynamic talents that made them an extremely successful last season. While Tyreke Evans is a good player – he may end up a great player – he is not yet playing at the level people were expecting.

Evans is leading the Tigers in scoring with 16.9, but at times he forces the play when the offense becomes stale. Rose was able to get to the rim against any player. Evans struggles to get much more than jumpers and he is only shooting 28 percent from distance.

As a team, they are shooting 29 percent from three point range. With only two players – forward Robert Dozier and guard Roburt Sallie – shooting anywhere near 40 percent. And for a team whose offense is pretty much a glorified drive and kick, The Tigers need to shoot better.

Solution: Three point-shooting mixed with a little more toughness. They miss Joey Dorsey.

*Disclaimer – Memphis lost three games. But they to quality teams; Xavier, Gonzaga – yes I still consider them quality, and Syracuse.

USC Trojans

I had high hopes for the Trojans. I thought they would say goodbye to O.J. Mayo and move on. But with loses to Oregon State, Seton Hall and Missouri, I think my faith is gone.

Statistical they look good. Dwight Lewis leads the team in scoring with 16.1 ppg and Taj Gibson is averaging a double-double. They also have Daniel Hackett and DeMar DeRozan in double figure scoring as well.

But here is a stat that might tell the story. As a team, their assist to turnover ratio is 1:1.2. Hackett alone dishes out 6 assits per game and then loses the ball 4.1 times a game. USC gives the ball over 16 times a game which is most in the PAC-1o.

DeRozan is also shooting zero percent from three. He has taken 14 shots, just missed them all. As a team the Trojans shoot 33 percent from behind the arc. With the many missed threes and amount of turnovers, there are a lot of empty possessions.

Solution:Ball handling. There are a lot of weapons on this team, but there are useless if you can’t give them the ball.

Dishonorable Mention

Michigan State – you give them the lose to UNC. But not to Maryland, not by 18.

UAB – have five losses against four good teams, but will still compete in C-USA.